True Alpha
by Ship Stethan
Summary: Not giving anything away STEREK


True Alpha

One never truly loses the alpha power, they just allow it to slip away or go dormant...

oooOooo

Two figures barely distinguishable from zipping lights collided in the front yard.

A young Derek Hale watched them with an amused, easy-going smile. Watching Laura go was really something. She was easily distinguishable from Peter with her flowing blond hair.

Uncle Peter seemed to dodge and parry with an agility rivaling his opponent's. Laura would dodge his claws only to lash out with a thrust of her own, and so it went.

Derek cast a glance at his mother, a tall and built woman with jet black hair. As leader of the Hale family, Talia Hale was one of the werewolf world's most recognized alphas.

"Mother why can't I fight more?" Derek asked, giving her the best doe-eyed look he could manage.

"Oh Derek," she laughed with an amused smile. "You fight well, but Laura's destiny isn't yours. One day she will be the alpha. That will never be your burden to bear, my son."

Why was it that Derek thought of now? Now- he was chained to a pole in some basement. Stiles was chained with him. The boy had been tired. Derek had finally relented, allowing the boy to lean against him, head against his chest as he slept from sheer exhaustion.

Derek had tried to keep him from having to be trapped like this- from having to share his fate...

"Run! Leave without me!"

Derek had been helping Scott and the gang raid a warehouse belonging to the hunters when Kate and some lackies had busted in.

It was soon a face off that resulted in Scott wounded by a wolfsbane bullet. Two of Kate's goons were already chaining Derek.

"I said run!" Derek repeated, roaring through his fangs at Stiles.

Stiles could no more have managed to escape on his own than a rat in a cage, but just then reinforcements arrived. Malia and Peter bust in, tossing two hunters aside and supporting Scott.

"Stiles go!" Derek repeated.

Kate had let them go, smiling widely at him- her real prize.

"Well now," she mused. "Der, Der... "

"You leave him alone!"

Derek's heart sank when he saw it was Stiles. The human teen charged at her, but two hunters grabbed him up by the arms.

"Perfect," Kate purred. "Now I have two... "

Stiles began to stir and soon those whiskey eyes were glancing at him.

Derek didn't have it in him to tell the boy to move, and besides it felt strangely comforting to have Stiles leaning into him. He'd never really thought about such closeness to another man.

"You've been out awhile."

"Yeah doesn't matter," Stiles muttered. "Here we are Sourwolf. We're trapped and I'm without my meds."

Derek knew Stiles was probably going crazy in his mind with his ADD. How long had they been trapped? Was it hours, or days? Time seemed to distort down there.

Derek's mind could think only one thing in all of this. He'd failed someone else- failed Stiles. The boy would probably die down here with him, but who else could he rightly die with? They always seemed to end up in these scrapes together.

Stiles's silence indicated he was likely awash in his own sea of thoughts.

"I've been thinking," Derek found himself muttering aloud.

"Hm?" Stiles sighed.

"My mom once said something. She said it wasn't my destiny to be an alpha. Guess she was right."

Silence seemed to sit between them.

"I'll always see you as the alpha," Stiles said finally. "Remember when you made Isaac back off?"

"I'll never forget," Derek replied wistfully.

"I remember last time my... " Stiles hesitated and Derek didn't miss the blush on his face.

"What?" he asked curiously.

"Last time my head was on your chest."

Derek felt a rush of nervousness, but nothing about any of this seemed wrong.

"I failed you Stiles."

"What!?" the boy gawked. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean this," Derek sighed heavily. "Everyone I care about always gets hurt. Why can't you just stay away from me?"

"Why you blaming yourself?" Stiles asked with a scowl. "You didn't make me run back in to save you. I did it because I wanted to."

Derek considered the boy's words, feeling that strange pull in his chest again, and Stiles pressed so close he was practically drowning in his cinnamon smell wasn't helping.

"Why?" Derek asked. "Why come back just to die with me if no one rescues us?"

"It isn't obvious?" Stiles asked with a quirked eyebrow. "Because... "

Derek noticed that the teen now looked incredibly vulnerable.

"Derek do you remember what love feels like?"

Derek inhaled sharply. Could Stiles mean... maybe he should just answer the question.

"I do," he managed quietly. "It seems long ago now. Her name was Paige. Do you know what love at first sight is like?"

"Of course."

"Oh that's right," Derek smirked. "Lydia... "

"Nope," Stiles replied simply.

"No?" Derek asked in surprise.

"Just an infatuation," Stiles clarified.

"Malia?"

"Yes," Stiles admitted. "But there's also someone else."

For some reason that weird flutter was back.

"Anyone I know?" Derek asked, suddenly certain.

"You."

Derek couldn't avoid those whiskey eyes anymore. There was no lie in those depths.

"I'm no good for you," Derek said suddenly, blaming himself for this situation.

"Love isn't good or bad," Stiles challenged. "Its beyond such petty notions. That's why I ran back for you. If we die here Derek- know that I loved you, with all my heart."

Derek felt as if his chest were constricted by Stiles's confession- by his eyes on his, depths shining with sincerity and love.

"I love you too," he whispered.

He couldn't have said who brought their lips together first, but in that kiss was hope for tomorrow- faith they would get out of this, and that he would never let Stiles go.

Finally he pulled away and the hopelessness returned.

"If only I were an alpha still," he said in regret. "I could break the chains."

"Maybe you can be," Stiles remarked, eyes lighting up suddenly. "Maybe you can become a true alpha."

"No I can't," Derek said with a sad shake of his head.

"Maybe the alpha power is still in you somewhere Derek. Maybe you just need to remember what its like."

Derek seemed to get a sudden determination about him. His eyes glowed their beta blue.

"I believe you can," Stiles encouraged him. "Remember the feel of the power in you Derek. Remember when you roared for me, to protect me."

A rumble vibrated within Derek's chest. Blue changed to red and a mighty roar filled the stale silence of the basement.

The chains now snapped in half as easy as sugar. Derek flung his arms around Stiles when they were both free, hugging the boy to him like he would never let go.

"I knew it," Stiles whispered, peppering Derek's neck and cheek with kisses. "Knew you were still an alpha."

Derek held him tighter, burying his nose in Stiles's neck to really drink in that scent. Then it happened-something in him shifted.

"When a wolf finds their mate," his mother's voice of long ago echoed in his memory. "They just know. A sort of connection seems to bridge their hearts... "

Derek knew this was it. He'd not only found a lover, but his mate. Stiles was his destiny.


End file.
